Football: Nasri: Arsenal abuse ‘stupid’

Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri insists he is not affected by the Arsenal boo-boys who have targeted him since he left the north London club – and labelled their abuse of him as ‘stupid’.
Nasri is one of several players to join City from Arsenal in recent seasons, along with the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure and Bacary Sagna – and he says that supporters should no longer expect any loyalty from top level footballers.
The former France international reckons his decision to join City has been the correct one as he has won two Premier League titles and an FA Cup medal since making his move in 2011.
Nasri is hoping to add a second Community Shield winners’ medal to his collection when he faces his old team at Wembley, and the 27-year-old insists he will be totally focused.
“The abuse doesn’t affect me on the pitch, I just think it’s stupid,” Nasri said.
“I’m not an Arsenal fan, I am not from London. If we want to be honest, we are players who look at what is in the best interests for us and our career.
“When Manchester City came, it was the best choice for me to come here. And today I have won trophies, I am really happy, I have everything and I have a better life.
“If the fans can’t move on then it’s too bad. They love their club, maybe they saw it as treason or that I betrayed them. But it’s not that. I just look at for what’s best for me; and that’s what Bacary Sagna did, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure.”
Looking ahead to the new season, Nasri reckons Chelsea are best equipped to prevent City retaining the title, rather than the Gunners.
Nasri believes a lack of quality in the defensive midfield area and in central defence will dent Arsenal’s hopes of winning the league for the first time in 11 years.
“I think Chelsea will be the biggest threat,” Nasri said. “For me, Arsenal still have a weakness in defensive mid and at centre-back.
“Chelsea’s signings have really caught my eye. Cesc Fabregas is a great replacement for Frank Lampard, I know that from playing with him at Arsenal. They had a weakness up front so they’ve signed Diego Costa who was great for Atletico Madrid last season. They lost Ashley Cole but bought in Filipe Luis.
“For Arsenal, Sanchez has the quality, but the Premier League is not La Liga. It is really, really hard. We saw that with Mesut Ozil last year. At the start of the season he was brilliant but he found out when every other league has a break in December, you carry on playing in England. We had the same with Stevan Jovetic at City.”